Over the past decade, various countries in Central Europe have experienced protracted democratic backsliding. Common features have included a weakening of judicial independence, a concentration of power in the executive and side-lining of legislatures, and the curtailment of civic space.
Few had expected this to happen just ten years ago. In the two decades following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the region received substantial international assistance, aimed at supporting institutional and legal reforms and promoting a dynamic civil society. This included support to multi-party politics, reforming public administration, strengthening parliaments and the judiciary, and supporting independent media and civil society organizations – all vital pillars for a well-functioning democracy.
However, after Central and Eastern European countries joined the European Union, much of the international democracy assistance ended too. Many in the international democracy assistance community considered the region to have accomplished its democratic transformation and having passed a point of democratic no-return. Throughout the last decade, this assumption of democratic irreversibility has come under pressure. Increasingly, concerned citizens and governance experts wonder ‘Is there a case for rekindled democracy assistance in Central and Eastern Europe?’
This webinar brings together leading regional and global thinkers, politicians and activists on democracy and human rights to discuss the future of democracy support in Central and Eastern Europe. The panellists will address the following questions:
- Is there a case for renewed democracy assistance in Central and Eastern Europe?
If so, what shape should this renewed democracy assistance efforts take?
- How can it build on the lessons of past democracy support successes and failures within the countries of the region? what lessons from elsewhere can be relevant?
- What role for the European Union?
SPEAKERS:
- Katarina Barley, Vice-President, European Parliament
- Adam Bodnar, Ombudsman (Commissioner for Human Rights), Poland
- Emine Bozkurt, Chair of the Board of Advisers, International IDEA
- Thomas Carothers, Senior Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Ivan Krastev, Chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies
- Márta Pardavi, Co-Chair, Hungarian Helsinki Committee
- Sam van der Staak, Head of Europe Programme, International IDEA
- Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General, International IDEA
- Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sweden
